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The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), also known, particularly outside of the United States, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodigious and ecologically essential natural forest regenerator.
These eastern grey squirrels are considered an invasive species in Europe because of their presence contributing to the displacement of the red squirrels. The invasion of the grey squirrel in the United Kingdom can be classified as a Disease Mediated Invasion (DMI). [ 6 ]
Squirrelpox virus (SQPV) is a virus that causes the fatal disease squirrelpox in United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland red squirrels. The virus is often carried by grey squirrels from North America, [2] which rarely die from the disease. Elsewhere in the Red Squirrel's European range, either the grey squirrel does not occur or it lacks the ...
The species is the largest tree squirrel in the state. It’s being threatened by climate change, habitat loss and frequent disease outbreaks. Gray squirrel may become endangered species in WA.
Although these squirrels are commonly referred to as "albinos", most of them are likely non-albino squirrels that exhibit a rare white fur coloration known as leucism that is as a result of a recessive gene found within certain eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) populations, and so technically they ought to be referred to as white ...
Non-native invasive species can disrupt ecosystems because they do not have natural predators, or other ecological checks-and-balances. Thus, with less competition from native species, non-native populations can explode. [9] Invasive insects and pathogens have eliminated entire tree species from forests of the United States in as little as decades.
The eastern grey squirrel carries a disease, the squirrel parapoxvirus, that does not appear to affect their own health but will often kill the red squirrel. It was revealed in 2008 that the numbers of red squirrels at Formby (England) had declined by 80% as a result of this disease, [ 25 ] though the population is now recovering.
The grey squirrel is an introduced species in Great Britain, where it threatens the country's native red squirrel population. Islands, such as the British Isles, can be adversely affected by the introduction of non-native species. Often an island will have several distinct species not present on the nearest mainland, and vice versa.
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